Why do pragmatists emphasize experience over a priori reasoning?

Pragmatists emphasize actual experience over a priori reasoning because they view knowledge as an instrument for adapting to and controlling a changing reality. This approach serves as a continuation of critical empiricism, rejecting fixed principles, closed systems, and "pretended absolutes" in favor of concreteness, facts, and action.1

For pragmatists, the meaning of an idea is found in its practical consequences, and truth is identified with the process of verification—or "what works"—rather than abstract correspondence to a static state of affairs. By prioritizing experience, pragmatists argue that:1

• Ideas are tools: Concepts are interpreted as instruments or plans of action used to organize behavior, rather than as static copies of the world.1
• Reality is plastic: Because change is an inevitable condition of life, pragmatists focus on how individuals can direct change for social and personal benefit, rather than relying on rationalistic accounts that relegate action to a lower level of value.1
• Methodological utility: The formation of theories is justified by their efficacy and usefulness in serving human needs and purposes.1

Ultimately, pragmatism rejects the "dubious ideal" of philosophy as a system of eternal truths, recognizing instead the contingent and fallible nature of human reason.2